BILL NUMBER: AJR 40	CHAPTERED  07/06/00

	RESOLUTION CHAPTER   87
	FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE   JULY 6, 2000
	ADOPTED IN SENATE   JUNE 29, 2000
	ADOPTED IN ASSEMBLY   APRIL 24, 2000
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY   MARCH 27, 2000

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Wildman
   (Principal coauthor:  Senator Speier)
   (Coauthors:  Assembly Members Alquist, Bock, Campbell, Cardoza,
Correa, Cox, Cunneen, Havice, Honda, Jackson, Kuehl, Longville,
Machado, Mazzoni, Papan, Shelley, Steinberg, Strickland,
Strom-Martin, Washington, and Zettel)
   (Coauthors:  Senators Alpert, Chesbro, Peace, Solis, and
Vasconcellos)

                        JANUARY 18, 2000

   Assembly Joint Resolution No. 40--Relative to special education
funding.



	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AJR 40, Wildman.  Special education:  federal funding.
   This measure would memorialize the President and Congress of the
United States to provide the full federal share of funding for
special education programs to the states so that this state and other
states will not be required to take funding from other vital state
and local programs to fund this underfunded federal mandate.




   WHEREAS, The Congress enacted the Education for All Handicapped
Children Act of 1975 (P.L. 94-142), now known as the Individuals with
Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), to ensure that all children with
disabilities in the United States have available to them a free and
appropriate public education that emphasizes special education and
related services designed to meet their unique needs, to assure that
the rights of children with disabilities and their parents or
guardians are protected, to assist states and localities to provide
for the education of all children with disabilities, and to assess
and assure the effectiveness of efforts to educate children with
disabilities; and
   WHEREAS, Since 1975, federal law has authorized appropriation
levels for grants to states under the IDEA at 40 percent of the
average per-pupil expenditure in public elementary and secondary
schools in the United States; and
   WHEREAS, Congress continued the 40-percent funding authority in
Public Law 105-17, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act
Amendments of 1997; and
   WHEREAS, Congress has never appropriated funds equivalent to the
authorized level, has never exceeded the 15-percent level, and has
usually only appropriated funding at about the 8-percent level; and
   WHEREAS, The federal budget for fiscal year 2000, signed by the
President on November 29, 1999, made an additional $700,000,000
available for special education, and this increased appropriation,
when combined with the revised allocation formula in Public Law
105-17 will make the federal government more able to fund special
education, and at higher levels than previously; and
   WHEREAS, The California Master Plan for Special Education was
approved for statewide implementation in 1980 on the basis of the
anticipated federal commitment to fund special education programs at
the federally authorized level; and
   WHEREAS, The Governor's Budget for the 2000-01 fiscal year
proposes $2.4 billion in General Fund support for the state's share
of funding for special education programs; and
   WHEREAS, California anticipates receiving approximately
$505,000,000 in federal special education funds under Part B of IDEA
for the 2000-01 school year, even though the federally authorized
level of funding would provide over $1.8 billion annually to
California; and
   WHEREAS, Local educational agencies in California are required to
pay for the underfunded federal mandates for special education
programs, at a statewide total cost approaching $1 billion annually,
from regular education program money, thereby reducing the funding
that is available for other education programs; and
   WHEREAS, The decision of the Supreme Court of the United States in
the case of Cedar Rapids Community Sch. Dist. v. Garret F. ((1999)
143 L.Ed.2d 154), has had the effect of creating an additional
mandate for providing specialized health care, and will significantly
increase the costs associated with providing special education
services; and
   WHEREAS, Whether or not California participates in the IDEA grant
program, the state has to meet the requirements of Section 504 of the
federal Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. Sec. 701) and its
implementing regulations (34 C.F.R. 104), which prohibit recipients
of federal financial assistance, including educational institutions,
from discriminating on the basis of disability, yet no federal funds
are available under that act for state grants; and
   WHEREAS, California is committed to providing a free and
appropriate public education to children and youth with disabilities,
in order to meet their unique needs; and
   WHEREAS, The California Legislature is extremely concerned that,
since 1978, Congress has not provided states with the full amount of
financial assistance necessary to achieve its goal of ensuring
children and youth with disabilities equal protection of the laws;
now, therefore, be it
   Resolved by the Assembly and Senate of the State of California,
jointly, That the Legislature respectfully memorializes the President
and Congress of the United States to provide the full 40-percent
federal share of funding for special education programs so that
California and other states participating in these critical programs
will not be required to take funding from other vital state and local
programs in order to fund this underfunded federal mandate; and be
it further
   Resolved, That the Chief Clerk of the Assembly transmit copies of
this resolution to the President and Vice President of the United
States, to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, to the
Majority Leader of the Senate, to the Chair of the Senate Committee
on Budget, to the Chair of the House Committee on the Budget, to the
Senate Committee on Appropriations, to the Chair of the House
Committee on Appropriations, to each Senator and Representative from
California in the Congress of the United States, and to the United
States Secretary of Education.
